The man hesitated, and then he motioned for them all to put down their guns. Seth was halfway tempted to break Johnny’s neck anyway; he deserved worse.
But Johnny wasn’t about to give up yet. He somehow managed to reach near his knee and pull out a knife. He swiped it at Seth’s face, forcing Seth to let him go.
Johnny got to his feet. “Shoot him!” he screamed.
Seth saw one of the men lift his gun again, and so he launched himself straight at Johnny. The sound of a gunshot exploded around him, momentarily deafening him. But all he could think of was getting that knife away from Johnny. They rolled in the dirt, grappling and punching. Johnny sliced at Seth and cut him across his left bicep.
Seth hissed in pain. He felt blood dripping down his arm, but it only gave him more of a reason to keep fighting.
But Johnny was a dirty fighter: he kneed Seth in the groin and then had the knife pressed to Seth’s throat.
He looked down at Seth with sheer glee. “Now I get to kill you. I’ll do it slowly, though, because you’ve made me so angry.” He pressed the knife into Seth’s skin, creating a thin line of blood. “And Rose will be mine.”
Over my dead body. Seth grabbed the knife by its blade, yelling at the pain at his hand, but Johnny was so surprised that Seth was able to wrench it away from him and toss it far into the woods.
“Goddamn you!” Johnny screamed.
He was about to launch himself at Seth again when they heard, “Police! Put your weapons down and your hands up!”
Everyone froze, and then, like something out of a dream, Caleb and six other police officers surrounded them.
“Put your weapons down!” Caleb yelled. His gun was leveled at Johnny. “Otherwise we have orders to shoot to kill.”
Johnny’s men dropped their guns without another word, while Johnny just smiled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun, dropping it at his feet.
“I surrender,” he said, his tone disgusted.
The police converged on the group, putting Johnny and his guys in handcuffs. Seth clutched his hand to his chest as he rose from the ground.
“Seth, let’s get you out of here.” Caleb helped him up. He winced when he saw Seth’s injuries. “Can you walk? The ambulance isn’t far from here.”
Seth nodded. “I’m fine. It’s just my hand.” He noticed the red stain on his sleeve and added, “And my arm, I guess.”
“Jesus Christ, Seth, you crazy asshole.” Caleb pulled him into a bear hug, which Seth tried to reciprocate despite all the bleeding.
“Where’s Rose? Did she find you?”
“I’m right here.”
Seth looked over Caleb’s shoulder, and then Rose was running into his arms. He pulled her into an embrace, spinning her around. He kissed her so hard that she yelped, but she didn’t protest. God, he loved her. How could he have ever thought he’d leave her?
“Are you okay? God, Rose, it was so close—”
“Shh, I’m fine. Better than you.” She ripped at her t-shirt and made a makeshift bandage for his hand. Tying it, she said, “You idiot. What were you thinking?”
He dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “I was thinking that as long as you were safe, I didn’t care what happened.”
“Well, I care what happens to you. And you’re never doing something so moronic ever again.”
That made him smile. “Of course, princess,” he said, unable to help himself from using his original nickname for her.
She sniffed. “And don’t you forget it.”
Chapter Twenty
It was nearly dawn by the time Rose and Seth returned to Seth’s apartment. He had to get stitches in his hand, his bicep and throat were bandaged , and after long interviews with the cops, they were allowed to go home. Johnny and his gang would remain in jail for the time being.
Heath had taken Callie for the day, and when they’d all met up at the hospital, he’d returned her with a shake of his head.
“She wouldn’t calm down all day,” he’d reported as Callie cavorted around Rose in excitement. “I think she missed you.”
Rose had almost cried at seeing Callie again. Burying her face in the dog’s fur, she’d had to gather her composure to thank her brother for everything.
Now in Seth’s apartment, they both collapsed onto Seth’s bed, Callie lying at the foot of the bed. Seth winced when he rolled onto his side.
“How’s your hand?” Rose asked as she curled next to him.
“Fine. I think they gave me enough painkillers to sedate an elephant.”
“Good. Then if you annoy me, I’ll put some into your food as revenge.”
He laughed. “I guess I’d deserve it.” His expression sobered; he touched her cheek that was now black and blue. “I’ve thought about what you said, before this happened.”
“No, you don’t have to—”
He interrupted her. “No, I want to. You said I was being a coward, and you were right. I was going to take Sergeant Loyd’s offer because I thought there was nothing else for me here. Except I was wrong.” He stroked her hair, his touch so gentle it made Rose want to cry all over again. “I have you. You’re my everything, Rose.”
Her heart expanded; she struggled to find the right words. “You’re not going, then?” she whispered.
“No. If the Marines had something else for me, that’d be one thing. But I’m not going on another tour.”
Rose hadn’t cried all day—not really—but for some reason, this unleashed a flood of tears. Sobbing, she covered her face with her hands. She heard Seth saying something in soothing tones. He kissed her forehead.
“Jesus, don’t cry, I can’t stand it. Now you’re making me wonder if you’re sad I’m not going.”
That made her cry harder. “You’re so stupid. I thought everything was over between us, and then today you could’ve died—”
He moved her hands away from her face, but she could barely see through the tears.
“You could’ve died, too. Realizing you were missing, that Johnny had you… I was never so afraid as I was in that moment.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.” She wiped her eyes, sniffling. “I thought I could end it myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I could. Or that I just didn’t care anymore. I don’t know.”
“Promise me one thing. That you’ll never put yourself in that kind of danger again.”
“As long as you promise me the same thing.”
He didn’t even hesitate, “Deal.”
Despite their exhaustion and injuries, Rose knew that they both needed each other right at that moment. When she kissed him, he tangled his uninjured hand into her hair and kissed her like she was the only thing that could save him.
She moaned and opened her mouth wider. Soon, she was under him, his body arching over hers so as not to crush her. Her heart pounded as he pushed her torn shirt up, and she helped him strip it off her, only breaking the kiss for a second.
“God, I love you,” he said as he gazed into her eyes. “I love you more than I can ever say.”